There’s a super awesome deal going on now, that gives you 20% back on Amazon Purchases, up to $100 back, if you pay with at least one American Express Membership Rewards point. Doctor of Credit has a great and updated post on the deal. But as I was going through Amazon, I realized I’d never linked my accounts, as a result, I couldn’t use Membership Rewards Points on Amazon!

How to use Membership Rewards Points on Amazon

You’ll want to click that Get Started link, then you’ll see the following screen:

Once you decide to add an account, you’ll need to enter your name and your credit card number:

From there you’ll have to confirm address, then provide just a bit more info:

.

Once you’ve enrolled, you’ll just need to select an American Express card to pay with, then you should have the option to pay with points.

Wrapping Up

Hopefully this provides a pretty easy to follow way to link your American Express Membership Rewards card to your Amazon account. More importantly, hopefully this provides you a way of maximizing some of the incredible opportunities like the 20% off purchases, up to $100 back deal that is currently happening. But I’d imagine there are so many more awesome deals to come!

AMEX Platinum is killing the 50% Rebate – but what was it?

For economy flights – you choose an airline, and Pay with Points and you get 50% back.

For Business and First Class – you don’t need to choose an airline, just do Pay with Points.

Expect to receive that 50% rebate 6-8 weeks later

Why is American Express pulling it back?

Perhaps the obvious reason is, that it is such a lucrative benefit that people might be using it more than American Express intended. I can’t blame people for using it. Nick had an excellent post to highlight the true value of the benefit. For many, it seemed like a no brainer. That said, some of us–me!–didn’t happen to have a huge cache of Membership Rewards points, and so with American Express rolling back the benefit so soon after rolling it out, those of us long time cardholders are left holding a bag so to speak.

American Express’ reasoning for giving new card holders better benefits than loyal cardmembers

When I called in, the reasoning I was given, was that the 50% points rebate was actually written into the legal terms. I get that, since its probably the 4th most highlighted benefit on American Express’ sales page. But, they really could give longer term loyal cardmembers a similar bonus, instead they are hiding behind the original terms of the application.

Poorly played American Express!

Getting a few more points

Reading this news, I was unhappy! I was almost as unhappy as I was with the Alaska Air no-notice devaluation of Emirates awards! So, I did what any normal, rational person would do. I called American Express and threatened to cancel my card! Incidentally, the statement closes tomorrow with my annual fee. Maybe that gave me a bit of an edge. I reached out to a few friends and the results varied.

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Basic Fares are all the rage now-a-days for airlines. But you should avoid them! Between no carry-on bag, no seat assignment, and no elite upgrades, they are just plain bad–in my opinion. So what do you do, if you’ve used your FlexPerks or Citi or Chase points to buy a ticket? Well, Ed Pizzarello, writer of Pizza in Motion has the answer!

Rapid Travel Chai reports that Malta’s Azure Window has collapsed. This was an iconic site, which now sits in the Mediterranean. I never got the chance to see it, although I hope to still get the chance to head over to Gozo, the location of the Azure Window.

AMEX Centurion Lounge Changes:

American Express will start limiting how many guests / companions you can bring into the Centurion Lounges starting 30 March. This is a step in the right direction with respect to over-crowding, but it still doesn’t make me think that it will solve the problem experienced at Dallas or Miami among others.

By now, you’ve probably seen a dozen or so Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) AMEX 30k Sign-up Bonus posts. In fact, from a casual google image search–well take a look for yourself, I see a gaggle of the normal affiliate bloggers with posts — as one would expect, because it is a good offer. But in addition to that, I see a lot of other folks posting about it. Miles to Memories (note: apparently he also has affiliates, I never noticed before!) posted that it’d increase today (posted yesterday).

Doctor of Credit always has the jump on these things, so not much of a surprise, although the comments are certainly worth reading. More importantly, the Doctor, also highlights the valuable points, such as that this is only 5k more points than usual, you can only get the personal card once in a lifetime, you can only get the business card if you haven’t held it in the last year, etc. Seriously, if you’re going to get the card, take the 5 minutes to read his post, first.

But the thing that jumps out at me more is the fact that this is a rare opportunity that non-affiliate bloggers can highlight the card, and maybe pick up a few extra points.

Pointscentric, for example (quoted in the tweet above) has an excellent point. For those folks that have the card already, and really it’s not just bloggers, it’s anyone with the card, can go here, and put in your account information to see whether it will work. Or if you prefer, you can go login to your American Express account and go to “Rewards” and under there, is “Refer a Friend.”

SPG Refer a Friend

If you’re curious what cards are eligible, well, here they are:

Platinum Card® from American Express

Premier Rewards Gold Card from American Express

Blue Cash Preferred ® from American Express

Blue Cash Everyday ® from American Express

Starwood Preferred Guest ® Credit Card from American Express

Gold Delta SkyMiles ® Credit Card

Platinum Delta SkyMiles ® Credit Card

You’ll note that only the Starwood Preferred Guest personal credit card is eligible. Now, full disclosure, I only have the SPG Business card (having cancelled the SPG Personal a month or two ago), however, I’d encourage folks to leave a comment if they are looking for someone who does have one, or would like to refer folks. I make no guarantees, but, happy to facilitate.

So, what will you do? Will you apply for the SPG AMEX with the 5k more rewards? Who through?

Many of you who have some form of the American Express Gold or Platinum card may have recently received a notice about the American Express Platinum Hotel Collection. Trevor got an e-mail – but I was lucky enough to get the full glossy catalog. And if you haven’t seen it yet, I don’t know that you’re missing a whole lot.

The Hotel Collection offers preferred rates at select hotels around the world and “exclusive” benefits. The exclusive benefits are limited to a $75 hotel credit (on select charges) and a free hotel room upgrade. To receive the benefits, travelers have to book at least two consecutive nights on their American Express card.

Depending on where you’re staying, The Hotel Collection might be something you may want to look into for your next trip. With “Preferred” rates, the Hotel Collection could save you some cash. That being said, I personally find that The Hotel Collection is incredibly limited in offerings.

First off, The Hotel Collection is primarily focused on independent, luxury hotels. Frequent travelers will see recognizable names in The Hotel Collection, like Hyatt, Hilton, and Loew’s. But these major chains are the exception amongst The Hotel Collection, not the rule. This means that your status may not mean much at these hotels – nor would these bookings count towards your stay requirement. Second, the majority of the hotels are located in the United States, and international offerings are very limited. For example: there are only three provinces served by The Hotel Collection in Canada, and are limited to major cities.And when I tried searching various dates in Munich for 2015 (at both hotels), every search came up “Sold Out.”

For the $450 price tag that comes with the American Express Platinum Card, it’s my opinion that your best bet remains the Fine Hotels & Resorts. Exclusive to Platinum and Centurion members, the Fine Hotels and Resorts collection is focused on high-end hotels with some decent perks. Back in 2013, I booked a room at the Bellagio in Las Vegas for around $250, and it came with an upgrade, 4 PM check out, and over $100 in food & beverage vouchers for my stay.

In short: I feel like I should expect more from The Hotel Collection. Gold Card members should get some value out of this offering, while Platinum Card members should look at the Fine Hotels & Resorts first. Of course, if you’re status running (which, of course you are), then some of this is irrelevant, anyways.

What are your feelings about the Fine Hotels & Resorts collection? High value, or high hype? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

Ed. Note: No compensation nor incentive was given to mention or link to any product or service in this article. This content is not provided or commissioned by American Express. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of American Express, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express.

Note: Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline, or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. The owners of this website may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links and advertisements posted on this website. For more information, please see our Legal Notice.

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